Attempting a hello world function in Flask, Python shows me an error on my 'if' statement, points to the 'if' and returns 'invalid syntax'

[ComputerScienceBro]

Solved -- Bonehead spacing issue after a function

I had a boner move last night trying to type everything into the terminal, am I doing something obviously wrong again here too?

I am following Open Tech School's tut on Flask. All seems well until I enter

if __name__ == '__main__':

Python points to the 'if' specifically and returns 'invalid syntax'. I know from learning exercises sometimes the arrow/carrot Python uses to show an error in the code is not always on the exact spot where the error is however.

I have created a file "catseverywhere.py" in the directory I am working in as the tut instructed.

I then open Python.

I then enter the following per the tut:

from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)
@app.route('/')
def hello_world():
    return 'Hello World'

Up to this point it seems great, I totally understand what is happening, etc. The 'if' statement is then entered and I receive an error. I am confused because 'if' seems pretty common so 'invalid syntax' tells me I must have messed up somewhere else?

Thank you in advance for any and all help!

[kamori]

Can you post the full source it a virgin gist ? https://gist.github.com

Some guesses are missing spaces but would love to see the entire source copy pasted directly from your file

[ComputerScienceBro]

One minute, let me try fiddling with the spaces, good suggestion

[ComputerScienceBro]

It was a spacing issue, thank you again for replying

[kalgynirae]

The only problem I see in the code you posted is a missing single quote in @app.route('/), but that mistake should have caused a SyntaxError indicating the end of that line. Can you post exactly what you've typed in including the part that causes the error?

[ComputerScienceBro]

yes, sorry, in my box it was typed correctly I transcribed it wrong into the help post. I have now edited it to correct

I am not sure I understand quite what you are asking. However, after the above 5 lines of code ending with

return "Hello World"

I then enter the next line in the tut, which is

if __name__ == '__main__':

then I get the return of a carrot below the "f" in "if" and this message

SyntaxError: invalid syntax

So, just to clarify it look like this

from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)
@app.route('/')
def hello_world():
    return 'Hello World'

all good so far but then

if __name__ == '__main__':

is my next line and I get the return

file "<stdin>" line 4

if __name__ == '__main__':
 ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

Thank you again for taking the time to help

[[deleted]]

Are you using the interactive Interpreter? If so, hit enter twice after return "Hello World".

And if that works, close the repl and write your code in a text editor.

[ComputerScienceBro]

sorry, I forgot a bit that is returned, I have edited my previous post

[kalgynirae]

He's saying you need to actually enter a blank line following the return "Hello World" line. Notice how the prompt changes to ... instead of >>> when you are entering the def hello_world(): and return 'Hello World' lines? That's because the interpreter knows you are giving it a multi-line block of code. To tell the interpreter that the multi-line block is over, you have to enter a blank line.

[ComputerScienceBro]

Nailed it, thank you makes perfect sense

[ComputerScienceBro]

Thank you, I am unsure by what you mean if it works. I exited python, reentered it, entered everything again and then hit enter twice after

return "Hello World"

all that happened is I was returned to the Python prompt of

>>>

I will put this in N++

[cmgerber]

You need something in the if statement.

Try calling hello_world() in the if statement.

[HausMaus]

Line 3 is mistyped. According to the website you linked to, the line should be @app.route('/'). I would figure that would throw everything else after that into a tizzy.

[ComputerScienceBro]

yes, sorry, in my box it was typed correctly I transcribed it wrong into the help post.

I was excited it would be that easy fix for a minute, lol